CPG & E-COMMERCE BRANDS
Know what every sale actually earns you.
Accounting, margin visibility, and decision support for product brands, from someone who has built and run a food brand herself.
WHERE GROWTH PUTS PRESSURE ON THE NUMBERS
What product brands run into.
Revenue that doesn’t match deposits
Shopify, Amazon, and wholesale payouts arrive net of fees, refunds, and chargebacks. I tie each channel to the bank so revenue, fees, and cash agree.
Cash tied up in inventory
Production runs and inventory purchases hit cash long before the sales do. We make the timing visible, so growth doesn’t catch you short.
Margins you can’t see
The true cost per unit, including freight, packaging, platform fees, and returns, so you know what each product earns.
Deductions and promotions
Distributor chargebacks, trade spend, and retailer deductions tracked and reconciled, not written off as a cost of doing business.
A national retailer or new channel
Before you say yes, we model what it would cost, return, and earn: production, payment terms, promotions, and cash needs.
Wholesale and online, one picture
DTC, marketplace, and wholesale sales in one set of books, with margin by channel, customer, and product.
HOW I HELP
Three ways I support product brands.
Accounting & Controller Support
Books that tie out across every channel. Sales, fees, refunds, and payouts reconciled to the bank each month, with a clean close.
See Accounting →Fractional CFO
Margin by product and channel, cash planning around inventory, and modeling for the retailer, hire, or new channel in front of you.
See Fractional CFO →Finance Education
Learn to read your own reports, so you can talk to buyers, lenders, and investors with confidence.
See Finance Education →WHY THIS FITS
I’ve run a product brand, so I know where the money goes.
I founded and ran a CPG food brand, so I know what retailer terms, production runs, and distributor deductions do to a small brand’s cash. I also mentor food and beverage founders. I bring that experience to your numbers.
Brands I work with
Food and beverage
Beauty and personal care
Pet and household
Apparel and accessories
Launching, growing, or selling into retail
Comfortable wherever your product sells.
CHANNELS I WORK IN
Each channel pays out differently. I set them up so sales, fees, and cash tie out in the books.
Online and DTC
Marketplaces
Wholesale & EDI
Accounting
A WORKED EXAMPLE
Selling more, earning less.
Growth can hide a margin problem. Revenue is up, the reports look healthy, and the cash still feels tight. We trace the number back to what is driving it, then decide what to change.
The report says
Net sales up 40% year over year
What it means
Margin fell once freight, platform fees, and retailer promotions were counted against each product.
What you decide
Reprice the weakest products, set a minimum order, or renegotiate promotions before the next order.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Questions product brands ask first.
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Yes. Early brands benefit most from having the books and sales channels set up correctly from the start, so there is nothing to untangle later.
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Yes. I set up each channel so sales, fees, refunds, and payouts tie to the bank, then reconcile them every month.
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Yes. We model what it would cost, what cash it needs, and what/when it returns before you commit, including production, payment terms, promotions, and deductions.
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Food and beverage is where my experience is deepest. I also work with beauty, pet, household, and other product brands.
Start with a conversation about your brand’s numbers.
A short intro call is the easiest way to see where your margins, cash, and channels stand and what support would help most.
Prefer email? stephanie@berwickfinancial.com